Red sky at night
Sailor's delight.
Well, I don't know much about sailors, but I enjoy a red sky in the morning just as much in the evening. This morning's was spectacular. It began low and deep, a dark band of burgundy just over the horizon, turning scarlet and magenta, flaming into crimson and orange, spilling through the window bathing my kitchen and sitting room with a tangerine hue. It blazed hot and pink, then just as quickly faded into the gray - a commonplace winter day with a magnificent introduction. What a fiery show - so easy to miss in it's brevity, but dazzling nonetheless.
As I enjoyed the salmon blush throughout my home, I pondered on the night it was chasing away with it's splendor. A restless one, for sure. Spent wondering what it was like for my grandma to be spending her first night face to face with her Savior. Spent wondering what it was like for my mother and grandpa to be spending their first night without Grandma.
I thought more on sunrises and sunsets - how we love to see them, even pursue them. Remembering evenings spent shivering on the beach, waiting, just so we could be there for the blazing display of the sunset. Seeing the flaming pinkness at dawn and being unable to hold back a "Hey, come look! Quick!"
What is it that makes them speak to us, beckon to us to watch, observe, until the last gleaming bits are gone? Is it not a foretaste, a little hint, a sweet taste of the glory of our precious Lord? A reminder of His majesty?
Of course I'm not the first one to think so. A quick search in my concordance produced others.
2 Samuel 23:4
he is like the light of morning at sunrise
on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain
that brings the grass from the earth.
Habakkuk 3:4
His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.
Is not Grandma now surrounded by His splendor? The eternal sunrise and sunset? The Alpha and Omega?
When we're dragged down by dreary gray days, or overcome by the darkness of night, God provides a beautiful reminder of His resplendent glory, and provides a precious hope of our future eternal home in brief moments - by the red and golden glow of sunrises and sunsets.
Oh, God, thank you that Grandma is with you. Thank you for the continual reminders of your goodness throughout nature. May I always have eyes to see the little glimpses of glory in the commonplace everyday.
Psalm 113:3
From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.
2 comments:
Cara, we mourn your family's loss, but celebrate with you in the knowledge that your Grandma is at peace and in Glory. I love sunrises.
Somehow I missed that you had a blog. I will catch up on my reading over the next few days.
Did you notice that the sun burst through the clouds at Grandma's funeral at the -exact- moment your father started reading scripture? When he said "Behold" the sun broke through and by the time had have finished the passage, the sun had gone behind the clouds again.
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